Car underframe



Feb- MQ wm- R. B. CTTRELL ETAL.- v 2,23,358 g.

CAR UNDERFRAME ATTORNEY.

Feb, N, l.. R. B. COTTFELL Erm.

CAR'UND'EHFRAME 2 sheets-sheet 2 Filed May 16, 1939 Patented Feb. l11, 1941 NITED STATES John E. Flesch, Chicago,

Ill., designers 'to American Steel Foundries, Chicago, lili., a corporation oi New Jersey Application y 16, 1939, Serial No. 273,967

y i3 Claims. (Cl. 10S- 414) Our invention relates to railway car underiraming and more particularly to a novel method of reinforcing a car center sill at the point where it is subjected to greatest stresses. namely, where the Weight of the car body is sup ported over the car truck. At this point the center sill is usually reinforced by a member called a center filler usually in the form of a casting.

Dur invention is particularly applicable to railway cars having a center sill of inverted U-secticn such as is commonly built up of two Z sections by welding them along their abutting edges on the longitudinal center line oi the car.

Reference is here made to our co-pendlng 'ap-- plication Serial No. M1647, showing another modification of bolster center ller and draft lug arrangement also particularly suitable for welding.

@il .an object oi' our invention is to-iorm relatively light weight castings for reinforcement of the center sill in the before-mentioned area, said castings being more or less skeletal in design and forming, when welded in position in 25 the center sill, a center filler and rear draft lugs of great strength.

A further object oi our invention/is to design a novel formof center ller and draft lug cast structure wherein the maximum welding areas 30 will be provided along lines designed to offer greaest reinforcement in thel directions required. Y

Still another object of our invention is to design a novel arrangement of center filler and 35 draft lug castings for car center sills wherein the bufflng stresses normally received by the draft lugs are transmitted therefrom through the center illler casting and into the top web of the center sill structural member.

,A yet` further object of our invention is to design a novel arrangement of center filler and draft lug reinforcing castings for a. car center sill which will be particularly suitable for Weldy ing thereto and which at the same time will 45 conform to the best foundry practice for the production of castings.

Figure 1 is a top plan view of our novel form of center iiller casting;

Figure 2 is a sectional View therethrough in 50 the vertical plane bisecting the casting longitudinally and substantially as indicated by the line 2-2 of Figure l;

Figure 3 is an end elevation, the view being taken from the right as seen in Figures 1 and 2;

n l Figure 4 shows one-half an end elevation as seen from the left in Figures l and 2 and also a half sectional view in a transverse vertical plane substantially asv indicated by the line 2i-t of'Figure 2:

Figure 5 ls a side elevation of our novel form of draft lug casting;

.Figure 6 is a bottom plan view thereof and Figure 'l is a sectional view in a transverse plane substantially as indicated by the line i--l of Figure 5:

Figure 8 is a bottom plan View o f a car center sill assembly as reinforced with our novel center filler and draft lug castings;

Figure 9 is a side elevation. of the center sill structure shown in Figure il; and

Figure il) is a sectional view therethrough, the section being taken substantially inv the transverse vertical plane as indicated by the line llt-l@ of Figure 9.

Describing the structure in greater detail, it will `be observed that it comprises abolster center ller casting generally designated `2 and identical draft lugs d, i secured between the side members t and 8 welded together at the top along their longitudinal abutting edges as at it (Figure 10) to form-the center sill of the car. The said side -members t and 8 are rolled sections of e. form commonly used in freight car bodies, being of Z sectionA with the relatively thick and narrow bottom flanges i2 and Ii and the relatively thin and wide top flanges it and I8, said top :flanges being welded along their abutting edges at l0, as previously indicated, to form one substantially integral center sill member for a car body. In constructing our novel welded form of light v weight center filler casting and draft lugs, said casting will be applied to one of said Z section `side members and welded thereto along the vertical edge toward the center of the car body as at (Figure 9), longitudinally along the bottom edge thereof aslat 22 and around the tapered end portion 24 (Figure 1) as indicated at`26, 26, as well as around the perlmeters of the weight reducing openings 28, 28. Thereafter, one of said rear draft lug members ll may be fitted lwithin the Z member against the center iiller casting 2 and welded in abutment therewith as at and 32. Welding may also be applied entirely around all edges of the (Figure 8) which are draft lug casting 4 as best seen in the sideelevation view of Figure 9, wherein longitudinal welding is indicated at 34, 84 and welding along vertical lines is indicated at 38, 36. Each side member of the sill has a. longitudinal slot 38 lug casting and said annular flange may be welded as at 42 within said slot, thereby affording additional welding area and placingmetalof the draft lug casting in shear with the center sill member.

After the center filler casting and draft lug casting have been welded to one of said sill members 'it may be welded to the other of said sill members along the top longitudinal edges thereof as previously stated, and thereafter the center illler casting may be welded to the other portion of the center sill along its edges as at 20, 20 and along its base as at 22, the other draft lug casting in the meantime having been placed in position. Thereafter, welding may be applied along the edges of the other draft lug casting similarly to that applied to the first draft lug casting as already described.

fIhe center llerwcastlng is shown in detail in Figures l to 4,"inclusive, and may be described in general as an integr-al skeletal structure of box-like form having the end walls 44 and 46, a bottom wall or base 45 and a diagonally arranged wall 41 intermediate the top and bottom thereof. The end wall 44 has large central openings 48, 48 and the end wall 48 is similarly afforded openings 50, 50. The bottom wall vlikewise is lightened by the four circular openings 52, 52 (-Flgure l) and the diagonally arranged central wall has the rectangular large openings 54, 54. Centrally formed in the casting is the cylindrical center post I8 having the center pin opening i8, said center pin being supported by the longitudinally arranged vertical ribs 60 and 62 and by the transversely arranged vertical ribs 64 and 86. The rib 80 is spaced from the bottom wall by the large opening 68 and the rib s2 is likewise spaced :nom the bottom wa'u by theopening 10, said ribs thus extending through the diagonal wall 41. 'I'he transverse ribs 64 and 86 are lightened by the openings 12 and 14 respectlvely. Casting is facilitated by the cored opening 16. The vertical longitudinal rib 60 is extended through the end wall 44 in the rib 1.8, reinforcing the tapered end member 24, said tapered end member thus forming a continuation of the diagonal wall 41 to transmit to the top parts of the center sill the thrusts received from the draft lugs, said thrusts being transmitted through the center' filler casting alongl diagonal lines provided forby the wall stru'cture 41 with the associated reinforcing ribs.

The detail of each draft lug is shown in' Figures 5, 6 and '7. It also is a skeletal casting affording a maximum of longitudinal welding surface by means of the top and bottom longitudinal ribs and 82 and the intermediate longitudinal rib 84, said ribs being joined intermediate the ends by the transverse rib 86 and at one end by the transverse member 88, said member affording abutment for the draft forces. 'Ihe central longitudinal ribv 84 is bifurcated as at 90 adjacent the transverse rib 86, and between the top and bottom intermediate ribs 92 and 94 thus formed is provided the elongated slot 96 around whose outer edge is formed the beforementioned annular flange 40. The outer edge of the flange 40 is chamfered as at 98thus affording space for the welding metal 42 when the annular ilange 40 is tted within the opening in the sill. Likewise the vertical outer edge of the transverse rib 88 is relieved or chamfered as at |00 to aiord space for welding as at 36 (Figure 8) when said member is seated against the sill From a consideration of our structure, it will be clear that we have a novel means of rein forcing the sills of the car body in the vicinity of the center post and draft lug structure which affords a maximum of welding along longitudinal lines on which thrusts are received. inasmuch as such thrusts must be received along the vertical walls of the sills againstl which the draft lugs have been welded, it is desirable to transmit these thrusts through the center post structure into the top portion of the sill structure at the other side of the center illl'er. We have accomplished this by affording in our center illler casting a novel arrangement of the diagonal wall 41 and the associated ribs, said wall, in conjunction with the longitudinal ribs, affording means of transmitting said longitudinal thrusts through the center post structure into the tapered end portion 24 which is joined to the top of the center sill by welding along its edges and about the perimeters of the openings therein.

.llt is to be understood that we do not wish to be limited by the exact embodiment of the device shown which is merely by way of illustration and not limitation as various and other forms of the y device will, of course, be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

We claim:

l. In a railway car, a center sill structure comprising symmetrical rolled members of Z section welded along abutting edges to form an integral structure of inverted U section with lateral lon' gitudinal flanges, and reinforcing center filler and draft lug means in the form of skeletal castings welded between said members and comprising a rectangular center illler casting with end walls joined by a diagonal wall extending therebetween, a vertical central rib extending between said walls in a plane substantially at right angles to said diagonal wall, an end portion outwardly of said center illler casting having a gradually diminishing width affording a tapering ofi section modulus as welded to the top chord of said sill, and a rib integrally formed with said end portion and the adjoining Wallin the piane defined by said first-mentioned vertical rib, said draft lug castings abutting said cen- `center post, an outwardly extending end portion on said casting welded to the top web of said U section, a diagonally arranged intermediate wall extending between said end walls and merging with one of sadd end walls adjacent said end portion, and skeletal draft lug castings welded to said members respectively in abutment with said center filler casting opposite said end portion and adapted to transmit thrusts thereto, said diagonal wall affording means of transmitting thrusts from said draft lug castings through said center filler casting to said' end portion and thus to said top web.

v3. In a railway car-underframe, a center sill structure comprising symmetrical Z section rolled members welded along abutting edges to form an integral structure of inverted U section, re-

inforcing means welded thereto in the form of a box-like skeletal center ller casting having vertical end walls joined by a diagonal intermediate wall, an end portion welded to the top web of said U section outwardly of said casting and joining one of said end walls adjacent the juncture of said diagonal wall therewith, and skeletal draft lug castings welded to said members respectively in abutment with said center filler casting opposite said end portion and adapted to transmit longitudinal. thrusts thereto against one of said end walls, said diagonal-wall affording a means of transmitting thrusts from one of said end walls to the other of said end walls in the direction of said end portion.

4. In a railway car, a center sill structure comprising symmetrical rolled members of Z section welded along abutting edges to form an integral structure of inverted U section with lateral longitudinal flanges, and reinforcing center filler means and draft lug means in abutment therewith in the form of skeletal castings designed to be welded between said members and comprising a rectangular center filler casting with end walls joined by a transverse diagonal wall extending therebetween, a vertical central rib extending between said walls in a plane substantially at right angles to said diagonal wall. and an outwardly projecting end portion on said center filler casting opposite said draft lug -means having a gradually diminishing width affording a tapering ofi' section modulus as welded to the top member of said sill.

5. In a railway car underframe, a center sill structure comprising symmetrical rolled members of Z section welded along abutting edges to form an integral structure of inverted U section, reinforcing means welded between said members comprising a skeletal center filler casting having end walls joined by longitudinal ribs, a center post, a transverse diagonally arranged intermediate wall extending between said end walls,

and a tapered end portion extending outwardly from said casting and welded to the top member of said U section, and skeletal draft lug cast- I ings welded to said members respectively in abutment with said center filler casting at the end opposite said tapered portion, said diagonal wall affording means of transmitting lateral thrusts from said draft lug castings through said center filler casting to said end portion thereof .and to the top member of said U section.

6. In a railway car, a center sill structure comprising symmetrical rolled members of Z section welded along abutting edges to form an integral structure of inverted U section, and reinforcing-means welded between said members and comprising a center filler casting of skeletal boxlike form having end walls joined by a vertical rib extending therebetween and interrupted centrally of said casting by a center post, a tapering end portion extending outwardly from said filler casting welded to the top web of said U section, and a transverse diagonally arranged intermediate wall extending between said end walls and merging withone of said end walls adjacent said end portion, said diagonal wall being adapted to transmit thrusts from the opposite end of said casting therealong to said end portion and into said top web. i

7. In a railway car underframe, a center sill structure comprising symmetrical Z section rolled members welded along abutting edges to form an integral structure of inverted U section. and reinforcing means welded thereto in the form of a box-like skeletal center filler casting having vertical end walls joined by a transverse diagonal intermediate wall, an outwardly extending end portion welded to the top web'of said U section outwardly of said casting and joined to one of said end walls adjacentthe juncture of said diagonal wall therewith, and skeletal draft lug castings welded to said members respectively center filler casting and adapted to transmit longitudinal thrusts thereto against one of said end walls. Y

8. In a center filler casting adapted to be welded to a railway car center sill as reinforcement thereof, a skeletal casting of generally rectangular form having end walls, a bottom wall, a transverse diagonal wall joining said end walls, and an outwardly extending end portion of gradually diminishing depth and cross section designed to afford a tapering off section modulus when welded to the top member of said center sill, said end portion including a reinforcing rib merging with the adjacent end wall, and a vertical longitudinal rib extending between said end walls in the plane of said first-mentioned rib.

9. In a railway car underframe, center sill reinforcing means in the form ofvskeletal castings, one of said castings being a box-like structure with end walls joined by a transverse diagonal wall anda vertical rib extending therebetween, said box-like casting having outwardly of one end wall a portion of gradually diminishing cross section designed to afford a tapering off section modulus when welded to the top web of said centerr sill, and a longitudinal reinforcing rib joining said portion with the adjacent end wall substantially in line with said.vertical rib.

10, In a `railway car, a center sill structure comprising symmetrical rolled members of Z section welded along abutting edges to form an integral structure of inverted U section with lateral longitudinal flanges, and reinforcing center filler and draft lug means in the form of skeletal castings, said draft lug means being welded to said members respectively,- and said center filler being welded between said members with one end in abutment with said draft lug means, said center filler comprising end walls, a diagonally arranged intermediate wall extending therebetween.- and an 'outwardly tapered portion at the end opposite said draft lug means arranged whereby thrusts 'may be transmitted from said draft lugs through said center filler casting and into said tapered end portion thus affording a gradual tapering olf of the stresses transmitted from said castings to said rolled members.

l1. In a railway car. a center sill structure comprising symmetrical rolled members of Z section welded along abutting edges to form an integral structure of inverted U section, and a reinforcing center filler casting welded between said members and having end walls, a diagonally arranged transverse intermediate wall connecting said end walls, and a tapering portion outwardly of said casting welded to the top web of said U section, said diagonal wall affording in abutment with the other end wall of said `for welding to the top web of said U section,

means of transmitting thrusts from one end wall 7l through said casting directly to said end portion and to said top web, whereby the stresses transmitted by said thrusts irom said casting to said sill structure may be gradually tapered oil through said end portion.

12. In a center filler casting adapted to be welded to a railway car center sill as reinforcement thereof, a skeletal casting of generally rectangular form having end walls, a bottom wall, a transverse diagonal wall joining said end walls, and an outwardly extending end portion of gradually diminishing depth and cross` section substantially in line with said diagonal wall and affording a tapering oi! section modulus when welded to the top web of said center sill.

13. In a. railway car underframe, center sill reinforcing means in the form of skeletal castings,

- one of said castings being a. box-like structure with end walls Joined by a diagonal wall extending therebetween, said box-like casting having projecting outwardly at one end a longitudinal portion of gradually diminishing depth designed to alford a tapering of! section modulus 10 when welded to the top chord ot said center sill.

ROBERT B. COTTRELL. JOHN E. FLESCH. 

